Estes Park native Todd Fleece works hard to honor his obligations to family and the businesses he inherited, but only his friends and the horses at his ranch brighten Todd’s life. In fighting his attraction to his best friend’s ex-boyfriend, Todd has focused solely on his work, leaving little room in his life for finding love. Matt Abel’s reckless youth put him on a path to a self-destructive life—his most painful failure was being a horrible father. He excels at extreme sports and living on the edge. Now back in Estes Park and teaching white-water rafting, Matt tries to reconnect with his mother and his grown daughter. When he runs into his ex’s friend Todd, Matt longs for more than a fling. But achieving happiness isn’t simple, not with Todd’s family conflicts and Matt struggling not to slide back into alcoholism. With hurdles threatening to drive them apart, Todd and Matt try to find the courage to brave the rapids and face a future together…

Why you should read it: Braving the Rapids is book two in Brandon Witt’s amazing Rocky Mountain Boys series. It continues the stories of a group of gay men who live and work in a small Colorado town dependent on tourist business. This time the focus is on some of the silver foxes, men in their 40s and 50s, who are not looking for love but finding it anyway. Sometimes your family is made up of people you choose, not people who share your blood and DNA. When you’ve built your family out of close friends, dating any of them can be awkward.

Todd Fleece is a gay businessman in the town of Estes Park. He owns a fleet of horses and a company that provides horseback trail rides and cookouts. He also owns an amusement park. Both of these businesses were inherited from his father and are a bone of contention with other family members, especially his mother. Todd’s mother suffers from an undiagnosed case of dementia, most likely Alzheimer’s, and her behavior is becoming more alarming and uncontrollable. Todd has played the field for many years. His best friend, Steve, is a wealthy businessman who owns many stores and companies in and near town.

Matthew Abel has been a good-for-nothing for most of his life. His daughter, Jordan, is one of the National Park rangers. His mother owns the town’s bookstore. Jordan wants to have nothing to do with Matt, feeling (and rightly so) that he abandoned her as a child. Her mother died when she was a toddler so she has been raised by her grandmother.

I can’t even begin to touch on all of the other characters who are either important or even briefly introduced in this book. They will all play a part in the series, though, so it is worth noting them as you read the story. There is some proper angst in this book: the on-again-off-again romance of Todd and Matt, a poacher who is killing protected animals in the park and will stop at nothing to get his prizes, a man who tries by dirty tricks to drive store owners out of business, and Matt trying to regain the trust of his daughter.

There are also complex family relationships and torment about whether it is appropriate to date a man who is the former lover of a best friend. Then there is the near drowning of a key character who reluctantly takes a river rafting ride and … well, I’ll leave it to you to enjoy the many adventures that occur between the covers of this book. I don’t want to spoil anything. I’ll just say this book is highly recommended for lovers of romance and those who get an adrenaline rush from thrills and suspense. Enjoy!

Becky Condit is a widow, mother of three and grandmother of 10 who reads all kinds of books, but her go-to comfort books are romances. She reads and reviews more than 250 books a year, so you won’t often find her without her iPad in hand, but when you do, she’ll probably be gardening or spending time with her family.